Material Editor Toolbar and Shortcuts
Introduction
This guide walks through the various toolbar buttons available in Material Editor, and lists all keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac.
In Lens Studio you can find the Material Editor window under Window > Panels > Material Editor, if it's not already shown in your layout.
Toolbar
The Material Editor toolbar provides some useful tools for creating custom materials.
Add Node Button (Tab)
Opens the Add Node menu, which allows you to browse through all available nodes and add them to your graph. This menu can also be opened using the Tab
hotkey. Typing a node name while this menu is open will filter the results and let you quickly find the node you're looking for.
Snap to Grid Button
Enables or disables grid snapping, which snaps node positions to a grid when moving them around. This can make it easier to lay nodes out in an organized way.
Sub-Graph Button
Creates a new Sub-Graph encapsulating all selected nodes. Note that this feature is only available when at least one node is selected, and all selected nodes are allowed in Sub-Graphs. Parameter nodes and the Shader node are not allowed in Sub-Graphs.
Comment Button
Creates a comment group around any selected nodes. This is useful for documenting or organizing a graph.
Reset View Button
Resets the zoom level to 100% and positions the view to center on all nodes.
Mini-View Button
Toggles the Mini-View window, which shows a zoomed out view of the full graph and can be used to quickly navigate.
Preview Button
Toggles the Preview view, which shows a preview of how the material looks on a primitive mesh.
Graph Navigator
Provides a quick way to switch between graph materials and the sub-graphs inside them. The leftmost dropdown box shows a list of all graph materials in the project, and selecting any of them will switch to that graph. Any sub-graphs present in the current graph will show up in a dropdown to the right, and selecting one will jump into that sub-graph. This continues recursively for any sub-graphs nested within sub-graphs.
Navigation Shortcuts
Mac | Windows | |
Pan View | Right Click + DragMiddle Click + DragCtrl + Click + Drag | Right Click + DragMiddle Click + Drag |
Zoom | Scroll Wheel | Scroll Wheel |
Enter Sub-graph | Returni | Returni |
Exit Sub-graph | EscapeReturn + Shifto | EscapeReturn + Shifto |
Center View | h | h |
Fit View to All Nodes | f | f |
Fit View to Selected Nodes | Shift + f | Shift + f |
Select All Connected Nodes to Left | Left | Left |
Select All Connected Nodes to Right | Right | Right |
Information Shortcuts
Mac | Windows | |
Cycle to Next View Mode (on selected) | Up/Down | Up/Down |
Toggle Preview (on selected) | p | p |
Toggle Info and Stats | q | q |
Toggle Mini-view | m | m |
Create Comment Group | Cmd + b | Ctrl + b |
Manipulation Shortcuts
Mac | Windows | |
Delete Selected Nodes | DeleteBackspace | DeleteBackspace |
Delete Selected, Auto-reconnect | Shift + Delete | Shift + Delete |
Open "Add New Node" Menu | Tab | Tab |
Show Context Menu | Right Click | Right Click |
Insert Node in Existing Connection | Shift + Drag Node | Shift + Drag Node |
Remove Node from Connection | Shift + Drag Node | Shift + Drag Node |
Draw Line to Erase Connections | Shift + Click + Drag | Shift + Click + Drag |
Create Sub-graph | Cmd + g | Ctrl + g |
Duplicate Selected Nodes | Cmd + d | Ctrl + d |
Copy Selected Nodes | Cmd + c | Ctrl + c |
Paste Copied Nodes | Cmd + v | Ctrl + v |
Cut Selected Nodes | Cmd + x | Ctrl + x |
Undo | Cmd + z | Ctrl + z |
Redo | Cmd + Shift + zCmd + y | Ctrl + Shift + zCtrl + y |
Abort Current Action | Escape | Escape |